couple political figures who don't, but most do. >> steven kornacki. >> thinking of my cousin in miami who's right now planning to stay. i'm thinking of people like him town there right now. you think of harvey last week, don't take a chance. >> head out. susan page. >> it also is a reminder even if you believe in small government there are times when people rely on the state and the local and the federal government to be functional when there's crisis and they need help. >> all right. that does it for us this morning. we're praying for florida. stephanie ruhle picks up the coverage right now. >> thanks, mika. thanks, joe. good morning. i'm stephanie ruhle. we of got breaking news. irma crushing the caribbean, killing at least 17 people. now a category 4. the massive storm taking aim at the state of florida. >> it is wider than our entire state and could cause major life-threatening impacts from coast to coast. >> panicked americans try to get out of the path of the storm bu

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cost have left many stranded. >> we're just at their mercy at the moment. >> at their mercy. we've got full team coverage from across the sunshine state as florida prepares for most dangerous storm in a generation. >> we don't want heroes. we want people to save their lives. >> we begin this morning with hurricane irma. it is now less than 48 hours before it makes landfall in florida. and the situation for hundreds of thousands of people in the storm's path is nothing but dire. they're running out of gas, they're running oupt of supplies. look at your watch. they are running out of time. we're waiting for an update from governor rick scott any minute and we'll bring it to you live when it happen ts. in the meantime, i have a great team spread safely across south florida to cover this storm. we have to start in miami beach where it is bracing for irma's direct hit. sam champion is there, an msnbc contributor. give us the latest. when you look at that sunny,

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slightly hazy sky behind you, some people almost feel calm. >> yeah. and it is. that's what it's called, stephanie, the calm before the storm. good morning. let's get you updated on this storm. there are some changes with the latest updates so let's talk about them and talk about what they mean for the future ahead. so we'll show you the image of the hurricane this morning. talking about hurricane irma now, category 4. high sustained winds at 150 miles per hour. you see that number 4, but please don't think because it was a 5 yesterday that this is a weaker storm. the storm just completed an eyewall replacement cycle. that's just a shifting of the eyewall direction and placement and that usually weakens the storm a little pit. it has plenty of warm water ahead of it in the florida straits so there is the real possibility this storm will weaken and strengthen, weaken and strengthen, before it makes impact on florida. here's the center of the storm just past the turks and caicos, moving toward bahamas. lit spend the day moving toward

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the bahamas and cuba coastline. still category this 4 for a good part of the day but a restrengthening is possible to 5 and a high 4 is possible. when you see the 4 above the b and the a in cuba, if it interacts with the island in myny way, it could help to weaken that storm, but it's not expected to. here's the big track. now watch this. 2:00 a.m. sunday, 150-mile-an-hour winds right in the northern part of the florida keys as the eyewall hits there. then moves straight up through the center of florida. all the way into north florida by about monday at 2:00 a.m., it's toward bonita beach, daytona beach, actually so, we're talk about 12-hour period of time with hurricane-force winds in the southern part of florida. this is new and a lot of people are paying attention to, this watch that storm go up toward nashville and tennessee toward central tennessee a little east of nashville is where they have the center of circulation.

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this means 3, 6 inches of rain possible through north georgia into tennessee from this storm. and we'll quickly talk about the rainfall and the other effects that are down in florida for the most part. looking at up to 10 inches of rain in south florida from this florida, a little less as you move north and the storm will weaken. here's a brnd nu product that the hurricane center has put out this year, and that's the storm surge threat. now, you're looking at anywhere from the keys all the way up to west palm beach and around toward naples, because remember, this is an all-florida storm. this storm is about 350 miles across. florida is only about 150 miles across so it's an all florida impact storm. every city, every community gets impacted with hurricane-force winds and this rain and the possibility of the storm surge in those bright pink areas that are 5 to 10, that is 5 to ten feet. that's 5 to ten feet additional water. how we measure it in the u.s., when your ocean touches dry land, we're talk about 5 to ten

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feet above that. so taller than i am is the possibility of water moving with this storm because i'm six feet right here. 5 to 10 could be a lot higher. moving all across the landmass close to the coastline in florida, any low-lying coastal areas. these storms are survivable, but two things you have to take into careful consideration. one is that push, that storm surge, that flood. 90% of people who die in hurricanes die there in the storm surge, in the flooding. the other thing, i have to get you above that if you're going to survive this storm. the other possibility or the other problem is those winds. we know how destructive they are. we of soon the images out of barbuda, antigua, st. martin and out of the turks and caicos. a lot of damage. i need you to be protected in a safe environment. cement structure, rebar reinforced and if you're near the flood zone on that second floor level, not on the top floor of a building, don't like that too much, but try to place yourself within the lower sandwich of the building level,

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stephanie. >> please, floridians, listen to sam champion. get yourself to a safe place now. let's take you north about a half an hour north to hollywood, florida. nbc's mariana atencio is there. mariana, i see you in the store. people are cleaning that place out. what's left? >> reporter: stephanie, i of been here since the very early morning, since before the this store opened, and there was more than a dozen people lined up outside the door here, hoping to get their hands on those last-minute supplies p. big commodity here, you're seeing it in people's carts, is water. people also tell me they're here to buy bread, canned goods, any supplies they can, batteries also. i was here in the morning as the delivery trucks were coming in and i spoke to the delivery man and he said listen, we just can't seem to get the stuff fast enough and everything is flying off the shelves. the store manager here at publix, seeing people right in front of your live shot here, the store manager at publix told

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me usually what happens with these storms is they see the path and if it's going the hit in one area, they get help in distributing the supplies from the other areas. but as sam champion was saying, since this is an all -florida storm, that isn't happening and supplies are running out quickly. >> we need to help that manager inside publix and those employees trying to serve the people of hollywood, florida. it is obviously the best thing for people to do to get out if they can but easier said than done. miguel almaguer, at some point they have to stop flying. tell me that ticket prices have gone down because when i read these stories of price gouging for people who are simply trying to get out, it is more than inappropriate. it's heartbreaking. >> reporter: yeah many airlines say they are capping prices, some like jetblue as low as $99 to get out of this area, but the

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problem is those seats are going quickly. as a matter of fact, most passengers we have spoken to here that do not have flight reservations say it is nearly impossible to fly out of this airport and it's not just miami international but all airports in this region, finding flightings out is incredibly difficult. we know most airports in this area say they plan to shut down at some point tonight. airports like orlando say they will shut down tomorrow. it's not just folks who are looking to fly out of here but many cruise ships are actually docking here saying they will be in this area so that's another issue across this area. an issue for folks trying to find dry land across the area. >> let's take you to ft. lauderdale where we find nbc's jolynne kent. people aren't just stuck at airports. they're stuck at cruise ship term nams nals al well. when i look at the image, the water looks so calm behind you, so it's confusing. people teal fooel like it's sunny, maybe it's a bright day

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in florida. >> reporter: it is calm but it is empty, not normal for this area. we're at port everglades. i want to show you where a 3,000-person cruise ship from carnival was supposed to be docking just down this way. they were supposed to be going to the caribbean for five days. that of course has been canceled. that ship was supposed to be departing tomorrow and that of course has been canceled and there have been refunds issued. the reason this matters is you have cancellations on cruise lines from disney to norwegian to print says, all these lines canceling and that will have a big hit on the bottom line in ft. lauderdale and throughout south florida. we're looking at 1.2 million jobs created by tourism here, millions of people come to south florida every single year. these companies and of course these tourists and the people who work here in florida are going to see a really big hit to their bottom line. but cruise lines canceling in port everglades. it is uncharacteristically quiet. >> people trying to get out by plane, there are no trains

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there, cars. south florida's roads are packed and gas supplies are low. thomas, i see the line behind you. what's the situation? >> reporter: stephanie, we've had these lines all night long. we've been out since early this morning. north of us in hollywood, florida, and then just about 30 miles south here in miami. and this is what you can expect to see, these long lines for people that want to get gas to make sure they have a full tank, also people showing up with their spare gas canisters. when we started out earlier this morning in hollywood, one of the stations went dry while we were there. we went across the street, that station then went dry. there was a heavy flow of people coming in overnight. that second gas station that i referenced, a tanker pulled up right around 5:00 a.m. and started to refill that gas station. it was the first route stop for that tanker of the day. the gentleman said he had four other stops to make. people were waiting in line because they saw the tanker. they were willing to wait about an extra hour for that gas station to get up and running. people i've spoke on the this in

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line have waited about 15 minutes, 20 minutes. it just depends because there are only certain gas tanks that are available here and right now just speaking to a gentleman across the way, he said the only thing left is super so the most exopinionsive gasoline left right now. but, yeah, everybody wants to be prepared if they are going to evacuate since miami and the people here about 1.2 million people are under these evacuation orders. we do know some people are choosing to stay but people want to know if they need to leave they have option. >> thomas, what a lineup. sam champion, mariana atencio, miguel almaguer, jolynne kent, thomas roberts, thank you all. hurricane irma isn't the only weather situation we're focused on. mexico on high alert for tsunamis after violent earthquake rattled its southern coast overnight. at least six people are confirmed dead including three children. get your head around this.

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. this is the most powerful earthquake mexico has seen in a century, 8.1. the tsunami center warns they could sooef tsunami waves up to ten feet on its shores. florida keys under a mandatory evacuation, residents urged to get out or risk their lives when irma arrives. we'll speak with the mayor of the keys and surrounding areas when we come back. this is a serious, serious weather concern. look at that image. there is one road to get in and out of the florida keys and that thing's backed up. kevin, meet your father. kevin kevin kevin kevin kevin kevin kevin kevin kevin kevin trusted advice for life. kevin, how's your mom? life well planned. see what a raymond james financial advisor can do for you.

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welcome back. i'm stephanie ruhle. you're watching miss income. and any second now florida governor rick scott will hold a news conference updating on the evacuation efforts there. in the meantime, president trump is warning residents of florida to take the incoming hurricane seriously. he tweeted this morning, "hurricane irma is of epic proportion, perhaps bigger than we have ever seen. be safe and get out of its way if football. federal g is ready!" here's what we know about the storm at this hour. so far 17 people have died as a result of hurricane irma after it ripped through caribbean. the category 5 storm has been downgraded to a category 4 this morning as it e heads towards fle fl and appears on track to slam into miami this weekend. it is considered to be the most powerful atlantic hurricane on record. as florida preps for storm, the

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national weather service is warning residents that some areas of south florida may be uninhabitable for weeks or even months. areas like the florida bay and florida keys are expected to be among the hardest hit. joining me now on the phone is mayor george nugent of monroe county, florida, which includes the keys. mayor, the latest forecast predicts irma will make landfall at 7:00 a.m. on sunday in the keys. what do you have to do between now and then to prepare? right now on the screen, we are looking at an image of a1a. you have one single road that gets people on and off the keys. it sure looks by the traffic we see that it's not going to be an option far lot of people if they want to try to get out now. >> stephanie, thank you for having me. and thanks for getting the word out. yes, this is a very dangerous storm. governor scott has been down here visiting with us. we have some issues that we're trying to deal with, fuel shortages, but as you point out,

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the traffic is difficult. 27, highway 27 is one outlet. after you get out of the keys it's pretty smooth sailing to get out-the keys because a lot of people have evacuated and we can't impress enough that people that are still here need to get out of the keyes because this is a very dangerous storm. >> are people afraid? how many are staying? you're walking around towns there. >> i'm not walking around town. i'm buttoning up my house right now in the final stages and operating out of the emergency operations center, which has been doing a fantastic job in getting inting the message out can't say enough how difficult this is. the mood's good. we've, poornsed hurricanes before. we've never, poorexperienced anything like this before and we're looking at storm surges up to 8 feet, which will make

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things difficult. and the big thing is this is a statewide storm. it's not just happening to us and state resources focused on us. they'll be focused on miami beach and other population centers. >> is there anything you think you learned watching the rescues in harvey last week, anything you can apply to your area? >> i think that's what's going on around the country helped in people recognizing what can happen in a posthurricane situation and has helped us get a lot of residents that typically would not be evacuating out of here. the media and the tv coverage that took place after harvey was a wake-up call and with our situation following right on the heels of hurricane harvey has helped us get people out. but we still have people here that we would like to get out of here. >> mayor, we're going the send you back to buttoning up your house and helping your community and sending you the west best

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wishes possible. please be safe down there. >> thank you very much, stephanie. >> all right. i want to bring in two more voices who can talk about florida's preparedness, rafael lemaytray is the former director of public afears for fema and paul walsh with me me in the newsroom, the director for weather strategy at ibm, a meteorologist and expert on how weather and climate affects consumer behavior and business. rafael, we heard about a lot of changes in florida, i'm talking zoning and structural changes after drhurricane andrew. do you think they're ready? >> we listen from every new disaster for sure and there are certain areas in south florida that have updated their building codes, but the truth is right now i think most important thing people need to keep in mind is they need to listen to state and local officials on what to do. governor scott has done a very good job so far providing very clear messaging for folks particularly in evacuation areas to get out. there will be a time to look back after this storm hits on what we should have maybe done better for building and for

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updating these building codes, but for right now it's really important people get the message they need to prepare now. >> given the lax zoning laws or lack thereof in houston, should we expect to see the same level of destruction in florida that we saw there? >> well, there's no question that we're seeing more severe and more frequent flooding events. just in the gulf region alone we've soon 500 to 1,000-year flooding events in the past two years, the memorial day flood in texas, the tax day flood, harvey, and two major storms in l.a. will. so clearly we need to be thinking when we rebuild how we do that safer and stronger because we know this is going to happen again and frankly it's unfair to have taxpayers on the hook to just rebuild over and goempb. it makes much more sense to rebuild higher and stronger now after these storms hit, particularly in the houston area where i am now, then it does to have those taxpayer dollars to be spent on rebuilding. that's conversation to have at a later time. right now it's rally urgent

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people take time while there's still time tloeft prepare for irma. >> exactly ha they're doing in miami. on the left of your screen, a store front, most likely a restaurant. ek see all of those windows, floor to ceiling, boarded up. by what it looks like to me, that looks like the area of miami that is directly across from the ocean so, clearly in mooech they are getting -- miami beach they are getting themselves prepared. we of soon devastation in st. martin and st. bart's. will it be the same kind of damage in florida or is it a different game in terms of how buildings are built? >> i'm afraid we may see damage in florida like we of never seen before in the u.s. >> really? worse than harvey? >> it's different than harvey but from an economic perspective it could potentially be worse than harvey because of the real estate and the amount of people the storm is hitting and it's literally covering the entire state of florida and moving up

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the breadth of florida and going into georgia, so there will be hurricane-force winds well into georgia, perhaps into atlanta. imagine the potential impact of the storm. i just saw some research just this morning that was that pointed out that over the last 50 years we of got about $520 billion worth of damages from hurricanes. the estimate is the a combined harvey and irma, we may see 50% of that. >> why is this happening now? and is there anything these citiesing or states could have done to prepare? these are natural disasters. >> they are natural disasters. the risk is going to continue. the risk going to continue because of the fact from a sea level perspective we have more higher sea levels, of course the oceans are getting warmer, and so climate change is going to increase the frequency of these kind of events. i think what's going to happen after this event is we'll start to see some secular changes as it relates to the way that we build and the way that we sort of construct our cities and the way that we monitor and predict

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these things. by the way, one point about the weather forecast for both of these events have been amazingly accurate, amazingly accurate, and there's saved hundreds of lives. >> rafael, let's talk about the amount of support available now. how does the fact that houston is still struggling after harvey change the way fema is going to be able to respond to irma? >> well, the good news is this is what fema prepares for, why fema exists. when it's not hurricane season, they do exercises and planning with state and local officials. it doesn't get a lot of attention but it's an annual exercise now so, that's the good news. a lot of the response assets fema had in the houston area have prepositioned now in g. georgia and throughout states that might be hit by mare to prepare and be there. this is a new organization since kath. they're much better prepared to lean forward and be proactive and support states that need it. so not only people but also supplies, things like food, water, tarps, these are things

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that are strategically located around the potentially affected areas, and so this is something that i've been encouraged by in seeing fema's response to harvey and have no reason to believe they won't do it for mare as well. >> before we go, just there on the screen you saw a guy walking by, someone who decided not to evacuate. how does fema, how does the government manage or plan? it doesn't matter how many warnings or how often florida governor rick scott goes on television, people are going to stay. how does the government prepare for ha kind of rescue? paul? >> it's a great point. i think there's communication piece to this and i think the mayor mentioned earlier the fact people saw what happened in harvey and that sort of helped people get out of the way. i think there's probably always going to be a small percentage of people that decide to weather the storm. >> i remember when superstorm sandy was coming, chris christie got on tv and said don't you dare stay, you're going to put first responders' lives at risk. rafael, before go, for those who have chosen to stay, what tar

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heels warning to them? what would you advise? because we of got the think about honestly saving first responders' lives. dwoent want people to stay. >> well, hopefully there's still a little time left for you to heed those warnings. let's not put too fine a point on it. if you have not evacuated in an evacuation zone, you could die. and not only is that a harm to yourself, obviously, but the first responders that may not get to you during the storm but may need to get to you afterwards and you're putting their lives in danger too. if there's still time to leave, please do so. after the storm hits, evacuation -- the path to leave could get cut off. it's urgent you take that action now. >> the storm is so massive, some people don't know where go. rafael, paul, than you so much. clearly you two will be focused on this weekend as are we. more live pictures from miami beach. somewhat hazy but that beach is empty. no one is on it. we await an update from florida governor rick scott holding a

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news conference any moment now. and coming up, as hundreds of thousands of people along florida's east coast pras for hurricane irma, folks on the state's west coast might also bear the brunt of a monster storm. this is what we of been talk about. florida, that peninsula, is thinner than this storm. the storm is going the take a whack at the whole state and even further north. we'll head there and see how residents are prepared. >> people never lived in the dark like this. it's going the happen like hurricane andrew did. not getting back here, possible looting or, you know, national guard here to from text area, it will be unprecedented. [ "livin' thing" by electric light orchestra ]

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this remains a remarkably dangerous tomorrow storm and the window to get yourself in the right spot for weathering the storm, evacuating or weathering the storm, is closing rapidly. >> that was hhs secretary tom price this morning predicting rough days ahead for the people of florida and southern states. reminder, we're waiting for

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florida governor rick scott to talk to reporters from a command center in west palm beach. when it happens you will see it here. i want to bring in michael brennan, senior hurricane specialist at noaa's national hurricane center. are things looking better or worse? when i look at some of those images in miami beach, see that people are still there, we're reminded a lot of people can't afford to leave. that was the state in ta cree that, the situation in harvey last week. what are they going to face? >> we're still very concerned about irma. it's still a very dangerous major hurricane and we're still expecting direct impacts in florida. right now it's the southeastern bahamas, maximum winds of about 150 miles per hour, we're expecting irma to gradually turn northward and make landfall in the florida keys and somewhere in the southern florida peninsula overnight saturday night into sunday morning and that will bring the core of that major hurricane over the southern florida peninsula

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somewhere in this hurricane warning area so everybody in south florida needs to prepare as if they'll see those core category 4 winds. very dangerous. we have the potential for life-threatening storm surge over a large part of south florida from the jum tpiter inl on the south coast, extending into the florida keys. that's where we could see life-threatening storm surge, flooding of 5 to ten feet above ground level. theiss why those people have been asked to evacuate from coastal locations or anywhere that's vulnerable to storm surge in south florida. for people who have decided to stay even if they're in a high-rise building where they may be safe from the water itself, if they have some type of issue during the storm and there's flood, they have a medical emergency or some other type of emergency, nobody will be able to come help them so they'll be isolated and could remain isolated for several days without people being able to get in and out. theiss why we strongly encourage anybody who's been asked to evacuate by the local officials do so. >> be optimistic. what's the most likely scenario

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and what should we be hoping for? talk us through where this is and the chance it could blow east and really offshore. >> at this point all the model guidance is ho pretty tightly clustered around the track of some part of the florida peninsula. the models have been shifting left and right but we're confident mare makes landfall in the keys or somewhere in the florida peninsula. that's a bad scenario for everybody. it's a large storm. hurricane-force winds extend 70 miles from the center so even if it comes up the center and 30 to 40 mile ace way from the miami metro area, you could see many hours of sustained hurricane-force winds in that region. so everybody in south florida has to prepare and farther up north in central and north florida where irma will be affecting them as hurricanes we get into monday. >> when i think about the airline prices skyrocket, the fact there's no gas, the inland hotels are filled, i hope those who run hospitality businesses are watching. these people need to get out and

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need your help. a lot of focus has been on the east coast of florida. on the west coast they'll get hit too. we just don't know how hard. kristen dahlgren is in ft. myers, florida. how are people there preparing? >> they of been watching this forecast for days now, stephanie, and with this latest shift a little bit more to the west, some of the waiting has turned a little more to worry today. there are mandatory evacuations under way. take a look. i'm along the san'a bell causeway here. a lot of people may have vacationed on sanibel island. people getting off of the island. they're not as concerned they say with the winds necessarily but with the water. the you look at those storm surge models, the water could get quite high here, could be devastating storm surge. i just talked to a guy who said it took him a long time to recover his first-floor living space after hurricane charley so, he said he is going the continue his preps today and then get out of his house into tomorrow to get ready for this storm. so evacuations under way for these low, low-lying areas.

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take a look at those islands back there. that's what this part of florida is. it is flat. so any type of storm surge could really be devastating. shelters have now opened across lee county here where i am and so people are going to the shelters pap lot of people also not able to get hotel rooms, not willing go to shelters, they're trying to get out of the state and we of heard some people say it's taken them 16 hours to get out of florida from here. that's just unheard of. normally t's maybe a six, seven-hour drive and so just really long drives. i got in on wednesday and i couldn't find -- i went right to a store to try and stock up, couldn't find any water. so they of been getting in some shipments but it's hard to find water. gas stations are running out. a lot of the pumps you come up against are bagged and so getting those supplies if you haven't done it yet, you're really running into trouble. i think that's what we're going to be seeing as we go through the next day. those people who didn't prepare, who maybe went out fishing

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today -- you can see that boat -- some people enjoying this last beautiful day could run into trouble as we move forward and that's really the concern. >> all right, kristen. a lot of people just can't get out. when you think about the storm, a lot of people simply say they don't have anywhere to g and the idea of going north to a hotel indefinitely is simply too ek opinionsive. we'll continue to monitor this. we're looking at images right now of the bahamas. rehema ellis has been there for days and you're starting to see just complete in some areas evacuation. the winds are blowing, few people are walking around. that is a potz tif sisitive sig we want people to stay safe. any minute now florida governor rick scott will be holding a press conference to be giving an update on the preparations taking place for hurricane irma in the state of florida. rco...! polo! marco...! polo! marco...! polo! marco...! polo! marco...! sì? polo! marco...! polo! scusa? ma io sono marco polo, ma... marco...!

welcome back. i'm rule rule. you're watching msnbc. it is time for your "morning primer," everything you need to know to start your day. any minute now florida governor rick scott will hold an update on te vak wags efforts in florida as they prepare for hurricane irma. we'll bring that to you live when it begins. a deadly 8.1 magnitude earthquake in mexico killed at least six people. the national tsunami warning center forecasting waves up to ten feet high could hit e portions of the country's coastal areas. a federal appeals court voted unanimously to rejkt the

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provision in president trump's travel ban that barred grandparents, cousins and similarly close relations of the people in the u.s. from coming into the country. the justice department is expected to appeal that last ruling. moderate house republican charlie dent of pennsylvania has announced he won't be seeking re-election. a story that blows my mind. equifax says a massive cyberattack may have expozed sensitive data like our social security numbers of 143 million people. hackers accessed social security numbers, birthdays and in some cases driver's license information. that up with isn't going away. when i read they had three managers who sold stock just before the announcement, it blew my mind. >> yeah. i know. that had a lot of people concerned. three executives sold stock after the company learned of this breach on july 29th, the

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total amount $1.8 million worth. however, according to the company, they say that these three individuals including the cfo were unaware of the actual breach at the time of their sales. but you're right, the scale, the scope of this is absolutely stunning, stephanie. 45% of the united states population has been affected by this. 45% of the u.s. population. we are talk about one-stop shopping here. they got away with driver's license numbers, social security numbers, everything else. much more on our website to give you how you can get yourself secured. i know we'll go back down to florida. >> including the cfo. things that make you go hmm. thank you, tom. we have to as you said go to florida where goff gf florida g rick scott is speaking right now. >> a to storm surge is expected. a storm surge watch is in effect for north of jupiter to sebastian inlet, north of bonita beach to venice. a storm surge is forecast to be 3 to ten feet.

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think about that. 3 to ten feet in many areas, which is life-threatening. a hurricane warning is in effect for jupiter inlet e southward around the florida peninsula to bonita beach. the florida keys, lake okeechobee and florida bay. a hurricane watch is in effect for north of jupiter inlet to sebastian inlet north of bonita beach to ana marie island. rainfall is forecast to be 8 to 12 inches with isolated areas receiving up to 20 inches of rain. based on what we now know the majority of florida will have major hurricane impacts with deadly storm surge and life-threatening winds. we can expect this along the entire east cost and the entire west coast. the florida keys should be prepared to start feeling the effects of this storm tomorrow morning. evacuations. i've offered school bus to aid in evacuations statewide.

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multiple counties have accepted these buses. any counties with the need to buses to evacuate residents request buses right now. we will quickly run out of good weather to evacuate. if you're told to evacuate, leave, get out quickly. the roads will fill up quickly so you need to go. i'm a dad and i'm a grandfather. i love my family. i can't imagine life without them. do not put yourself or your fam lice life atfamily's life at ri. if you've been ordered to evacuate and are still home, please go. get inland to safety. today's the day to do do the right thing for your family and get inland for safety. this storm is wider than our entire state and is expected to cause major and life-threatening impacts from coast to coast. remember hurricane andrew, one of the worst storms in the

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history of florida. irma is more devastating on its current path. irma has already caused multiple fatalities in the caribbean. the storm is powerful and deadly. we are being very aggressive in our preparation for this storm and every floridian should take this seriously and be aggressive to protect their family. possessions can be replaced. your family cannot be replaced. i know it's hard toe vak wait. i know it's going to be uncomfortable. i think about my mom and how hard it would have been on her to be completely broke kids and have to evacuate. but you've got to do it. you have to keep your family safe. to private business owners, please be compassionate with your employees as they prepare for this storm and evacuate. i was a business owner when hurricane andrew devastated the state 25 years ago. the single most important thing right now is the safety of your employees and their families.

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for the reminder of the state wait ong evacuation orders, listen to your local officials. they will dwroil if and when your area needs to be evacuated. we can expect additional evacuations as the storm continues to get closer to our state and move up the state. the you near the panhandle, you will also experience severe weather. please be prepared for this. i cannot stress this enough. do not ignore evacuation orders. remember we can rebuild your home, we can't rebuild your life. all floridians should be prepared to evacuate soon. traffic. i know many of you are stuck in traffic. i'm suritis very frustrating. but please be patient. evacuations are not convenient but they are meant to absolutely keep you safe. i'm glad so many are driving to a safe place. in fact, we of increased the number of troopers on florida roadways to help move traffic and keep people moving down the road. we have 1,700 troopers working 12-hour shifts right now.

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these dedicated officers are 100% focused on safety and aren't take the day off. also, all administrative duties have been suspended which means all sworn fhp troopers are on florida's roads helping families evacuate and bring supplies to areas of need. we've increased the number of road rangers to assist motorists. around the state we have 13 traffic management centers where hundreds of d.o.t. workers are monitori monitoring cameras 24/7 to ensure traffic flows continue and evacuations proceed without interruption. we also have a dedicated d.o.d. at the state emergency evacuations sent nor tallahassee, working around the clock, watching road cameras and keeping traffic flowing. all this is to help you to get to safety as you evacuate. regarding counter flow. we still need southbound lanes to get needed gas and supplies down to shelters and families

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that are needed in the southern part of the state. contra flow also inhibits our ability to get emergency vehicles to people that need them. to ease congestion, we have activated shoerltds on i-75 from wildwood to the georgia line. please drive safely and listen to law enforcement. they're working to keep you and your family safe. realtime traffic information and evacuation routes are available at fl511.com. receive b seeing bottlenecks at major highway jupgss which brings up an important point. you d not need to evacuate out of the state or hundreds of miles away to be safe. if you not need to be on the road, please do not travel. find shelters in your kcounty. visit floridadisaster.org/shelters to find out where they are in your area. we are coordinating with google's emergency response team to prepare to close roads in google maps in real time in the

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event that hurricane irma forces a closure of any roads in the aftermath of the storm. at my direction, all tolls have been waived across florida roadways. this should help families evacuate quickly and centers have transferred to emergency centers to help evacuees with the most up to date information. visit florida's welcome center staff are all red cross certified and ready to assist at shelters and other areas as needed. all our borders at the state. if you are concerned that you don't have a way to evacuate due to traffic, please call the florida emergency information line 1-800-342-3557. for whatever reason if you can't evacuate call that number. which is a dedicated emergency management hotline. we will do everything we can to help get you out. fuel. one of our top priorities

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remains fuel availability. i learned yesterday that the federal government has waived additional rules and reguleses to allow more fuel to get to florida roads. problem with supply at gas stations and working around the clock to get the fuel to you. i have directed state law enforcement to provide escorts to get through traffic so they can get to the stations faster. these law enforcement escorts have continued throughout the night and we're going to keep this going as long as possible. i'm sure you've seen them across the state. gas stations and evacuation zones. we need you to stay open as long as you can so people can get gas and get out. we need your gas stations to stay open as long as you can so we can get more people gas so they can evacuate. my staff is reaching oout to gas stations in the keys to provide contact to help coordinate law enforcement escorts for tankers. we know fuel is important and devoting every state resource to

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addressing this. three tanker ships delivered fuels to port tampa yesterday. state law enforcement continues to escort fuel supply trucks from port of tampa and port trectly l directly to gas stations in your community. 8.4 million gallons of fuel was shipped in. while we're making progress, unfortunately, you're going to see lines and going to see outages. i know this is frustrating and we will not stop working on this. if you are in an evacuation zone in south florida, you need to leave. port everglades will be closing tonight for safety and gas will no longer be being resupplied into much of south florida until after the storm. if you are concerned that you do not have a way to evacuate because of fuel issues, use that same number, 1-800-342-3557. we will do everything we can to

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get you out. but you have to call now. if you are in an evacuation zone. we cannot save you in the middle of the storm. if you know, if you know you're going, please take only the amount of gas you need. you don't need to fill up your whole tank if you're going to stay in the county. the gas buddy app is a great resource to find open stations with fuel. all ports still remain open today and operating to bring fuel and supplies in. national guard. 7,000 members all available members of national guard are now activated. every member has been activated in advance of the storm that we can activate. law enforcement. the fish and wildlife conservation is preparing search and rescue teams for potential deployment and has more than 200 officers standing by for the first wave of response based on potential storm impacts. my staff and i have been reaching out to law enforcement across the state to make sure

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they have the resources to keep people safe. utility providers. they're actively prepositioning resources throughout the state and in neighboring states. we know from previous storms how incredibly important it is to get power restored as quickly as we can. florida power and light have activated emergency response plan and thousands of workers preparing to respond to irma. they're one of the largest providers in the state. working with out of state utilities and electrical contracting companies to secure additional resources. we have opened more than 20 stages sites across the state. i'm having calls from utilities every day trying to make sure we provide all the resources and they're prepared. shelters. last night i directed the closure of all public schools, state colleges, state universities and state offices for normal activities effective today through monday. to ensure we have every space available for sheltering and

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staging. right now, floridians must have access to every safe place to shelter. over 17,000 people have signed up to volunteer exceeding our goal. that is great, but we can always use more volunteers. i want to thank everyone who has opened their heart to help those in irma's path. we cannot thank you enough. but we can always use more. floridians can go to volunte volunteerflorida.org to sign up for opportunities. there is no reason for anyone not tee vevacuate if you are or to do so. go to shaea shelter that fits y needs. find a shelter in your county or neighboring counties. if you need a hotel go to xpedia.com/florida. air bnb has activated its disaster response program. if you are an evacuee needing a

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place to stay, go to airbnb.com/disaster. the florida restaurant lodging association has encouraged all hotels to waive pet policies and offer shelter and be compassionate with cancellations. we are running out of time. the storm is almost here. if you are in an evacuation zone, you need to go now. this is a catastrophic storm that our state has never seen. we cannot rebuild your home, we can rebuild your home, we cannot rebuild your life. protecting life is our absolute top priority. our number one priority is protecting everyone's life, everyone's life is important. no resource or expense will be spared to protect families. we band together and help each

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other. we will work around the clock to do everything we can to help you prepare. after the storm lifts, we'll lift each other up in recovery. we will get through this together. florida is an amazing melting pot of loving people and i'm proud of this incredible state. >> i'll be glad to answer any questions anyone has. >> as far as the shelter situations go, bringing people

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in. have you added additional shelters here? >> we're opening up more shelters and asking for more volunteers. we will continue to open shelters to take care of people. we are working with all from the state level and the county level to make sure that we have, as close to you and where you're going to evacuate shelter. if we need to, we'll get buss and do everything we can to get you moved if there's not a shelter really close to you as they fill up. we're going to have enough shelters. that's one reason i shut down all the schools. we'll use those for shelters. we could always use more volunteers, too. >> what is it you're asking volunteers to do specifically? >> well, in the beginning it's going to be the shelters. help out at the shelters. after it hits, there will be a lot of supply and food distribution and a lot of other things to do. debris cleanup and things like that. in the beginning we have to

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shelter people. if you're in an evacuation zone you need to evacuate and go some place else. go to a hotel, friends' or get to a shelter. we will have shelters for you. >> governor, the south end of the lake is the most vulnerable, especially the area. in your discussions with the corps, what has the corps said specifically about those vulnerable areas and what would happen if there were to be a breach in that region? >> so, so, i've been in constant contact with the corps and they are, they believe that the dike, we will not have issues with it. what has happened is as the wind has picked up now it is going to hit category 4, we can see some water coming over the top as it will slosh over the top. which will impact the areas that we evacuated. i made the decision yesterday to evacuate those areas just

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absolutely to make sure. right now we believe that there will be maybe three areas where we're doing some rehab that there will be some water that flows over the top. they don't believe that the dike is at risk. >> will people in the south areas, the communities that have been evacuated, will they be forced to stay away from their homes longer out of concerns. >> we will get people back to their homes as quickly as we can as long as it's safe. the concern is everybody's life and safety. the review will contstantly be reviewing the dike and i got a brief about their inspections. as water would rise in the lake, they will even do more inspections. but at this point, wherere